MAURICE TANI - THE LOVERS CARD Writing a sentence is hard work. One with a clean line and a nice shape. Good luck with that. So too is writing a melody that’s musical and appears original. Combining both into a song involves talent. Real talent. Like jumping from the [...]
SEAN WHEELER - SAND IN MY BLOOD Desert Legend Sean Wheeler is an American musician and singer-songwriter whose music is generally characterized by emotional intensity, a wide variety of influences, and theatrical, charismatic live performances. He is best known as the frontman of Throw Rag. A lifelong resident of California’s Coachella [...]
XOCHITL MORALES - DESCANSOS Xochitl Morales is a 17 year old high school student from Delano, California. She the assistant director and trumpet player for Mariachi Juvenil Mestizo, and she plays all of the instruments in the mariachi as well as sings. During the week, she teaches mariachi music to the children [...]
CHRIS CAIN - CHRIS CAIN The East San Jose rundown of Chris Cain’s youth was a full cross polination of influence. Cliff Coulter and Robin Ford. Los Tigres del Norte and Smith Dobson. Tons of bars and clubs. Arturo’s Tropical Village, The Starlight Ballroom. Twenty Grand. Hell, The Saddle Rack! On [...]
THE SONS OF THE SOUL REVIVERS - LIVE! RANCHO NICASIO For this extraordinary album, The Sons of The Soul Revivers were recorded live at Rancho Nicasio, a Marin County (Ca.) roadhouse famed for presenting roots music, during two sold out shows for the kind of mainstream audiences that don’t [...]
Little Village Foundation Musicians appeared at the annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park.
Check out the feature on Jim Pugh and the Little Village Foundation in SF GATE: "Jim Pugh, the veteran keyboard player who toured the world with Etta James and Robert Cray and now roams the Central Valley and Bay Area byways looking for unknown musicians to savor and record, first heard the Filipino American singer [...]
BACK WHERE I BELONG In spite of the fact that Aireene has never been here, this is where she comes from. ARTIST BIO This album is a prequel. The missing link between the songs she never sang and everything she has done to date. On this album, [...]
AKI GOES TO BOLLYWOOD Muddy Meets Mumbai PRESS PBS NEWSHOUR - Art Beat Meet San Jose musician Aki Kumar today, and he’ll proudly introduce himself as “The Only Bombay Blues Man.” But there was a time when Kumar, while making a name for himself on the Bay Area blues scene more than a decade [...]
WITH ANY LUCK BUT BAD Fireside songs from the cowboy trail sung by someone who's lived them PRESS MIDWEST RECORD RECAP Dave Ellis/With Any Luck But Bad: When it comes to cowboy music, if you aren't really into the culture, which runs pretty deep, you only really [...]
THE REAL DEAL A retired roofer and migrant farmworker from Mississippi, singing his own compositions PRESS **** All About Jazz- James Nadal For those who love the blues, the thrill of discovering a new artist is still special. Blues singer John “Blues” Boyd just released The Real [...]
THE THREE FRIENDS FROM WHERE THE CLOUDS DESCEND Rare instrumental tales from indigenous Mixtec tradition by musicians living in California PRESS NPR ALT LATINO KQED FM (California) MIDWEST RECORD RECAP NEW CLASSICS UK ARTIST BIO Los Tres Amigos De Snukivo means “the three friends from where the [...]
TE DOY LA LIBERTAD Youth Mariachi From Delano, Ca. PRESS “The youthful Mariachi Mestizo, mentored by the seasoned mariachi master Juan Morales, dips deep into the well of tradition to make mariachi music their own. A special bonus is the recording technique used, an inviting story unto [...]
IF NOTHING EVER CHANGES Slow-burning blues and soul sensation with a voice rich in experience PRESS Nominated for 3 Blues Foundation Awards Featured on Dan Akroyd’s Elwood’s Bluesmobile Radio Show No Depression Review Blues Music Magazine Editors Top 10 Pick for 2015 Living Blues Magazine Feature ARTIST [...]
SON OF BOOGIE WOOGIE Nimble guitar that growls with rocky, raucous blues PRESS BLUES JUNCTION LIVING BLUES MAGAZINE MIDWEST RECORD RECAP KDHX RADIO ST. LOUIS ALLABOUTJAZZ ARTIST BIO Coming from the poor neighborhood of East Oakland, Ron Thompson has lived a true blues life, working hard at [...]
What We Do We bring music from next door to the world. Strawberry pickers in California who hail from a village in Mexico where the clouds touch the earth. A lightning-fast roadhouse guitarist who exemplifies Oakland biker mayhem. An old hand with horses who sings cowboy songs with true depth. A hard-working retired machinist with [...]
Paul Liberatore, Marin Independent Journal Thursday, March 2, 2017 For those of us who don’t get to hear traditional gospel quartets very often, if ever, the fact that the Sons of the Soul Revivers are breaking out of the four walls of the church to perform for secular audiences is something of a musical blessing. [...]
PAUL DELAY - LIVE AT NOTODDEN '97 Paul deLay's untimely death a decade ago at the age of 55 seemed a cruel trick of the cosmos. His death stilled one of the most original voices in all of blues, an artist at the height of his powers, who transcended notions [...]
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I had the good fortune to have played on a recording for BB King back in the early 90’s. Honor to have done it but for sure it’s a cred that lots and lots of musicians can claim. Mister King made 100’s of recordings and probably hired 1000’s of musicians. As I recall Albert Collins [...]
The blues is a beguiling art form. Tangled up in this country’s legacy of slavery and oppression it is first and foremost a folk tradition. It requires no formal training to play and can be sung without instrumental accompaniment. And yet, its simplicity often obscures its power and scope. Though it is most certainly a [...]
… More recently, I’ve learned that the greatest musicians and songwriters may live right across the street. That’s also the view of veteran blues keyboardist and founder of Little Village foundation Jim Pugh, who told me that great talent is too often hidden in our towns and cities, far from the spotlight so often reserved [...]
(Luna Soleil dances with a hula hoop during the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016.) Little Village Foundation Presents ... Veteran keyboardist and producer Jim Pugh brought out some of the Bay Area’s finest to not one, but two stages for three hours [...]
Aki Kumar was sure the whole idea was a big mistake. Born and raised in Mumbai, he discovered the blues after moving to the United States, and quit his day job as a software engineer three years ago to focus on his burgeoning career as a harmonica player and vocalist on the South Bay blues [...]
See the people - Listen to the music - Feel the community
Seven old-school Sugar Pie DeSanto songs, three Filipino folk songs and a lot of traditional blues. Out of Delano, Calif., youth mariachi band Mariachi Mestizo, led by Juan Morales, will release “Te Doy La Libertad.” Sixteen boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 18 sing and play their hearts out for a vintage [...]
One of my favorite new albums is Oakland folk singer Aireene Espiritu’s “Back Where I Belong,” a project focusing on songs by or associated with Bay Area R&B great Sugar Pie DeSanto. It’s one of four new roots-music-with-a-twist projects released by the pianist Jim Pugh’s Little Village Foundation. The CD that’s gotten the lion’s share [...]
Lil Easy Backyard Party Sunday September 18, 2016
3 1/2 STARS Aki Kumar, a smart Chicago-style harmonica player born in Mumbai but long based in San Jose, dovetails Indian pop songs from Bollywood with the rhythms and spirit of the blues. He whets his imagi-nation on hear-it-to-believe-it “Eena Meena Deeka” and 10 other tunes recorded with help from friends like guitarist (and sitar [...]
Like the subject of “Bag Woman,” a song she wrote and recorded in 2014, Aireene Espiritu has no house or apartment of her own. She does have a car — a 2005 Prius — that she uses to travel from gig to gig along a route that includes Northern and Southern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho [...]
Meet San Jose musician Aki Kumar today, and he'll proudly introduce himself as “The Only Bombay Blues Man.” But there was a time when Kumar, while making a name for himself on the Bay Area blues scene more than a decade ago, would intentionally downplay his Indian heritage. He wasn't so forthright about immigrating from [...]
There are critics out there made so uncomfortable by how foreign music is marketed to Western listeners, especially Europeans, that they’ve sworn off any sort of foreign style — charming music, maybe, but to like it would contribute to imperialism, colonialism, fetishization of the Other, and such. One shouldn’t blame the music for its marketing, [...]
That’s how many of them there were standing with him outside Mother’s Cafeteria. We shook hands but one of his buddies had to remind me that we’d met before. More than once. I hate when that happens. Anyway, Tulane coeds. More than 10 but not 20. And all of them were drunk. More than a [...]
2016 Living Blues Awards Wee Willie Walker wins Comeback of the Year and Best Blues / Southern Soul Album Awards! Critics’ Poll Blues Artist of the Year (Male) Buddy Guy Blues Artist of the Year (Female) Shemekia Copeland Most Outstanding Blues Singer Otis Clay Most Outstanding Musician (Guitar) Lurrie Bell Most Outstanding Musician (Harmonica) Sugar [...]
Mississippi-born musician John "Blues" Boyd is The Real Deal when it comes to blues music. The soulful septuagenarian, now based in California, just released a new album staked on this swaggering attestation of showmanship. Boyd plays the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest this month to back up his artistically audacious claim. The Real Deal, recorded [...]
I wanted to be bigger than Bill Gates — but I fell in love with the blues Credit: Ola Carlvik This story is based on a radio interview. Listen to the full interview. DOWNLOAD HERE Aki Kumar moved to Silicon Valley at the age of 18. His goal, like many others, was to be a [...]
Though the official start of the final day of the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival doesn't happen until noon, bands and fans were there very early. The Mariachi Mestizo group arrived early and showed their style and support. It also isn't hard to find people who regularly attend all 4 days of the Safeway Waterfront Blues [...]
HARD TIMES LVF NIGHT AT THE FREIGHT & SALVAGE 2018 SEAN WHEELER "I'M GLAD" XÓCHITL MORALES INTERVIEW MARIACHI MESTIZO AT CAPITOL STUDIOS, HOLLYWOOD, CA JOHN BLUES BOYD INTERVIEW AIREENE ESPIRITU “DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE” MARIACHI MESTIZO (JUVINAL) MARCH 2016 WEE [...]
California-based troubadour Aireene Espiritu has been a favorite on the folk circuit for some years, releasing several acclaimed CDs of her own original music and touring extensively throughout the US and in Europe. Now she's putting her mark on the blues, having been tapped by Jim Pugh, founder of Little Village Foundation, a non-profit producer [...]
Aireene Espiritu Jim Pugh, the veteran keyboard player who toured the world with Etta James and Robert Cray and now roams the Central Valley and Bay Area byways looking for unknown musicians to savor and record, first heard the Filipino American singer Aireene Espiritu a few years ago at the Folk Alliance conclave [...]
Jim Pugh, the veteran keyboard player who toured the world with Etta James and Robert Cray and now roams the Central Valley and Bay Area byways looking for unknown musicians to savor and record, first heard the Filipino American singer Aireene Espiritu a few years ago at the Folk Alliance conclave in Oakland. She was [...]
How can someone go back to where they have never been? How can a ukulele playing folk singer accomplish searing blues and soul vocals with such sincere expression and emotion? These are just two of the mysteries surrounding Aireene Espiritu. Her release Back Where I Belong, reveals the answers, and much more. Though Espiritu has [...]
Talent “that wouldn’t otherwise be heard” is what Jim Pugh, founder of Little Village Foundation, looks for and then goes about promoting. “It’s like pebbles on the beach. You pick up one and it’s beautiful, but when you hold four together the commonality emerges. It’s breathtaking, and the bigger picture of what America really sounds [...]
When Jim Pugh [founder, Little Village Foundation] asked if I’d be interested in recording Sugar Pie DeSanto’s songs, I was open to it, thought it might be a really fun project, especially being something different from my usual folk scene. I had seen Sugar Pie live many years ago at a blues festival in Ashland, [...]
Check out a video of Mariachi Mestizo recording at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, CA. En las noches de sábado, todo lo que necesitamos es el traje de charro para sentir cuan arraigadas están en nuestras venas los guacos de mi padre y las tonadas de mi abuela. El guitarrón y el arpa, la [...]
2016 Release Artists in a benefit concert for Little Village Foundation at Freight & Salvage.
In the day and age of instant discovery of new music on the Internet, it's easy to assume that all emerging artists utilize YouTube, Spotify, and social media as their primary ticket to stardom. It's 2016, throngs of artists have launched their careers online over the past quarter of a century. But what about those [...]
Check out this interview with John Blues Boyd!
Check out this video of Aireene Espiritu performing Down By The Riverside.
Watch a video of Mariachi Mestizo from March 2016.
Mariachi Mestizo From Delano, Ca. If you live in California you drive a lot. I drive a lot. On a noticeably warm Sunday afternoon this past fall I pointed the car inland towards Visalia, driving up 101 past Templeton, over the hill at Paso Robles and then right at Fresno down to Visalia. Woodlake actually. You probably haven’t [...]
William Walker, known as Wee Willie Walker, was a member of the gospel group, the Redemption Harmonizers when they traveled from Memphis to Minneapolis in 1960. When the group left, he stayed. His voice has been featured on many soul and gospel tracks over the years. But he never had much luck in the recognition [...]
Serendipity played a huge part in this disc and it seems to simply grow from there. Rick Estrin was introduced to this singer’s music by Walker’s manager, he loved and recognized the voice from his days as a youngster growing up and getting interested in music. He fell in love with what he was hearing, [...]
Wee Willie Walker Nominated 3x For The Blues Music Awards!!! The Blues Foundation Mission To preserve blues heritage, celebrate blues recording and performance, expand worldwide awareness of the blues, and ensure the future of this uniquely American art form December 2015 Newsletter The Blues Foundation Announces 2016 Blues Music Awards Nominees Acoustic Album Doug MacLeod [...]
Wee Willie Walker and Curtis Salgado reprising their epiphanic version of The Beatles, HELP! at Little Village Foundation segment of The Waterfront Blues Festival 7.5.2015
The Hammond B3 has been the organ of choice since Jimmy Smith popularized it as a jazz instrument in the 1950’s. There were some before him but really it’s mass secular popularity started around then. Before that time it had been a mainstay of the church, mostly Baptist churches. Combined with the Leslie tremolo cabinets [...]
Mariacheros resting after an evening’s performance in Delano, Ca. Ole! I’m excited for the new year and looking forward to informing you all about the projects that will be happening. This cross cultural music platform we’ve created really does build empathy. Simply put, I’ve see it with eyes and heard it with my own ears. [...]
As a boy raised outside Taft, California, Dave Ellis at 10 years old was already working with horses. His father worked in the oil fields in nearby Bakersfield and later Dave would follow along in his footsteps, working in the oilfields just like his dad. In the 1950’s he was witness to the birthing of [...]
When it comes to cowboy music, if you aren’t really into the culture, which runs pretty deep, you only really know polar opposites like Ian Tyson and Michael Martin Murphey. Ellis, a real old time cowboy, might fall somewhere in the great middle between the two but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t make a mark. [...]
An itinerant electric bluesman, Thompson was once the virtual house band for the Oakland chapter of Hell's Angels but he couldn't parlay that into the success Doobie Brothers found as the house band for a biker bar and kept rolling down the line to the next gig like a true itinerant bluesman. Gathering praise from [...]
I can fit all I need in my 2006 ScionXB. A piano and an organ. An amp, site stands and seat. Cords. A shoebox full of cds. And then some clothes in a bag with a couple ironed shirts and maybe a jacket that I’ll hang in the back. Now that makes it pretty full. [...]
Steep yourself in gospel quartet music. Ask 16 year old Kingfish Ingram. I had the pleasure of playing with him 3x at The Waterfront Blues Festival over the Fourth of July Weekend. He’s a big Jubu Smith fan. He’s a big Spanky Alfred fan. And Lee Williams. And The Lumzy Sisters. Kingfish is a huge [...]
With us all having recording studios in our pockets and everything we capture put on YouTube within minutes, the notion of an Alan Lomax or Arhoolie Records’ Chris Strachwitz intrepidly making field recordings to preserve cultural music expressions, seems anachronistic if not obsolete. "The Three Friends from Where the Clouds Descend" by the trio Los [...]
The Little Village Foundation is a non-profit record label started up under the direction of keyboardist Jim Pugh, who recently retired after twenty-five years with Robert Cray. The mission of this organization is to seek and record obscure yet prodigious musicians who have not received proper recognition and respect. Oakland guitarist Ron Thompson certainly [...]
LOS TRES AMIGOES-SNUVIKO/Three Friends from Where the Clouds Descend: This might be pretty wild. Back when the earth was cooling, we used to hitch hike to school. For some reason, a Latino family ‘adopted' us on our morning trek and, since they stopped or us almost everyday, we saved a load in bus fare. They [...]
In Santa Maria last Friday I heard Mixtec spoken for the first time. Esperanza Salazar translated from Mixtec into English and replica swiss. It was an amazing evening of music and conversation.
Here’s an article from The Santa Maria Sun by Camillia Lanham that’s about The Mixteco living in Santa Maria. Their music is one of the things Little Village is seeking to document. Truly a fascinating read. Cover Story Immigrants from the La Mixteca region of Mexico face more than just the U.S./Mexico border as a [...]
Bear Erickson and I recently attended a weekly prayer service at The Islamic Society of Santa Barbara which is held at The Goleta Community Center every Friday at 1:20pm. I had called earlier and spoke with representative Mansoor Hassain . He met us when we arrived, we took off our shoes and sat on the [...]